Of late, the ex-skipper of the Indian National Cricket Team Mahendra Singh Dhoni has faced a lot of criticism for his slow batting. The section of people and fans have expected him to deliver much more than what he is currently delivering for the team. Meanwhile, Kapil Dev wants those people to stop expecting more from MS Dhoni.
Dhoni holds a strike rate of 93.39 in this World Cup which theoretically doesn’t come under the ‘slow’ category. It’s, however, his inability to shift gears at the right time – something that he easily could do during his best days – which has got fans and experts talking.
Notably, Dhoni’s strike rate of 120.4 is the fifth lowest at the death overs (40 and 50) in World Cup 2019. Only Kagiso Rabada (92), Kedar Jadhav (102), Mushfiqur Rahim (102) and James Neesham (117.1) have poorer strike rates than Dhoni for players who have played at least 50 balls at the death.
They are not going to be 20 again – Kapil Dev
Speaking of the same, Kapil Dev quoted that it is impossible for any cricketer to head back to ’20s after celebrating 37th birthday in the sports’ dressing room. He wants people to understand and not to expect the younger Dhoni in the middle.
“It’s very unfair to criticise Dhoni. It has happened to those who have been rated as all-time greats. They are not going to be 20 all over again,” Kapil was quoted as saying.
MS Dhoni is doing a fabulous Job:
As Dhoni walks into the last stretch of his international career, there have been quite a few statements made by former cricketers and pundits, especially after the most decorated captain hit a lean patch. Meanwhile, Kapil Dev believes twin World Cup-winning captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni is the biggest contributor to the team.
”The most important thing is Dhoni is doing good as far as the team is concerned. He may not be meeting the expectations of the public. The biggest problem is we expect so much from our heroes. He is doing a fabulous job for the team and an integral member of the thinktank.”
”With an aggressive Virat (Kohli) as a captain, it’s ideal to have someone with a calming effect like him. His wicketkeeping is good, and as I said, he can’t be as good as he was when he was 20 or 23,” felt the 60-year-old,” Kapil added.
Well, it would be interesting to see how things would pan out for MS Dhoni. Most probably, the celebrated cricketer in India is playing his final Two World Cup games in his cricketing career.